Hello members,

This is my first post. I am excited to be here seeking all of yours advice about a tranny issue I am experiencing. A couple weeks ago I started noticing the shifts to be not so smooth. I got the tranny fluid changed. It did not do any good. I feel the jerks are more prominant now than before. It also does a weird things in gear3.4 where the rpm drops, i feel a jerk and rpm goes back up. I cant figure out if itsdoing it in single gear or when shifting from 3 to 4.

I took her to a couple shops.

1) One of the so called european specialists: They wanted me to get a new valve body for 4400 plus 1400 labour plus taxes here in BC Canada.
2) A transmission shop: They basically said they can rebuild or repair the valve body with some solenoids etc and I will be looking at about 2500. If the jerk between doesnt go away, they will need to a complete rebuild for 5-6k.

Has anyone else experienced similar issues? If yes, how did you end up fixing them.

Does anyone know of a good transmission shop in Vancouver BC area which you have experience with?

 

Hi there, welcome to the forums ( you need to introduce yourself in the introductions forum)

Here is a resource I used to find a repair shop anywhere in the world. The distributors listed here will be able to recommend you to a qualified repair shop that gets parts and factory authorized rebuilt units.

Find Global ZF Authorized distributors I did not see one for BC, but I am sure you can inquire.

Teh one I contacted would rebuild one for me if I brought it in but happily told me of a local shop that got parts from them so are familiar with the ZF units.

 

Welcome aboard

former dealer jag tech and current independent jag tech. Do you have the codes for the transmission faults. Most 6hp26 trannys need a valve body and for sure, the E clutch rebuilt. At the least. Don’t know about Canada but maybe I can give you the info you need. Have repaired multiple 6hp26s

 

Hello Jagman92,

thanks for the response.

I tried getting a couple independent european body shops to scan the codes and there is no code they can find. The other transmission shop said they can rebuilt the valvebody with solenoids etc and may be that would fix the issues but they are not sure.

I am really clueless at this point of time taking it to some mechanic as not a lot of them are familiar with the ZF's. I tried calling the dealership and their response was to get a new one for over 10k.

 

In my experience, the 6HP series are actually pretty tough units. Having repaired many(both LR and Jag), they all need a fresh set of E clutches, a valve body, the brass shaft bushings inside the unit, a torque converter, new bridge seal(VB to trans case seal), and the pan and case connector sleeve. Only a few units had to be fully rebuilt due to fluid leaks and people continuing to drive them.

 

Thanks Jagman. I am a little confused at the moment.

1) Whether I should go with a used transmission and get it swapped.
2) A valve body solenoid change along with some seals and bushings etc is goign to cost me about 2500 dollars and if torque convertor/clutches need to be worked at, most likely 5k or more as per a local transmission shops.

If I decide to get a used tranny and replace it with mine, do you think there needs to be any computer resets done as well or some programming? Or is it just plug and play type?

 

This is very true. I apologize for the confusion. So, the used route is perfectly fine. As far as the TCM question, I’ve seen them plug and play and be fine. Whenever I swap units, I swap TCMs. That way all the adaptations in your module are still there with the vehicle. I’ve had a few trans swaps that didn’t work properly due to that. And if the adaptations are erased and not relearned properly, it could wipe out the trans. It’s a bit of a toss up in my experience. And there aren’t any good trans shops near you?

 

Transmission repairs are so expensive, it makes sense to buy a manual, learn everything and at least try to fix it yourself.
Do you consider yourself a smart guy?
Some transmission problems are very easy to fix if you know what to do.
Here is example for you:
I bought S-type with "bad transmission". It turned out to be a one broken wire!!!
I bought a Jeep with "bad transmission", it was just empty!
I can keep going and going. I am pretty sure your transmission has easy to replace solenoids, you just need to remove oil pan. Valve body can be taken apart, no big deal.
Good luck!

.

 

Thanks again jagman for the info. There are a lot of transmission shops around but I cant seem to find a reliable one. Some of the ones I talked to on phone havent had any or a lot of experience with ZF, so I a little skeptical in getting them to work on my transmission.

I just messaged one of the junkyards in town and they happen to have a 2009 XF with only 50,000 miles. I will see if I can find a good deal on the transmission and then just get it swapped by someone.

 

Well I do consider myself a smart guy. The only excuse I have is I live in an apartment building and have access to no covered garage/deck to work in. I still messaged one of my buddies inspired by you to see if i can work on my car at his house. Hopefully Ill sort it out.

 

Hello Jagman92,

One more question about the TCM. I tried a little googling but could not find the right spot/part. Most of the searches kept coming up for X type. Is that something built into the tranny itself or is it somewhere in the engine compartment as shown by some X type pictures.

Thanks again.

 

Ignore every X-Type result.

It's inside the trans.

 

lots of videos on youtube

 

hello my friend....great to read this post...just to say. looking forward to your knowledge from a diy mechanic and always like to learn.....wrong forum for my car i know,but your skills cover a broad range i am sure ....looking forward to reading more of your posts

 

Hello Jagman,

One more question about this. Is there an easy way to find out if the valve body in my tranny is generation 1 or 2 without opening the bottom skid plate and tranmission case?

thanks again in advance

 

Well as far as I know, for an 09 xf it would be a gen I regardless of engine variant. Is this a USA vehicle?

 

No, its a Canadian car.

 

Based on the large amount of research I've been doing, this is almost certainly bushing wear in the stator/E Clutch, which is a very common problem for the 6HP transmissions in these cars. I have an issue when if I drive my car really hard/get the transmission fluid hot, I can get it to "jump" through the gears from 4-6, and from what I can tell faults with the E Clutch generally are most apparent in the higher gears (e.g. 4-6).

It's of course possible that it's just a faulty solenoid - and I posted a thread on solenoid/Zip Kit installation here, but for me while that maybe firmed up the shifts slightly it didn't solve the problem in the higher gears, so I currently have a spare transmission that I'm rebuilding with uprated clutch kits. I'll post a thread with details when I'm done, but it's definitely not a job for the faint hearted though!

I suspect your transmission will need a rebuild to replace (at least) bushings.

 

That should be the same. The biggest part is getting the same spacer plate. The spacer plate id can only be viewed with the pan off. That is the critical part of getting the right valve body.

 

All cars for the "North American" market (US & Canada) are the same, except for speedometer/odometer settings and metric settings in navigation, etc. and the daytime-on settings for the headlights. And of course the prices.